Teen Railfan Place - Winter 2009

[ns3010]

Nice shots Jordan! I really like the one with the 5 ICE SD40-2s!

I like the flares on the GP40-2Bs (the ex-CNJ geeps and -2As also have them) too. The ex-CNJ geeps were pretty cool in their original form, with the squared hood and rear numberboards (photo not mine, I wasn't around until after the most recent rebuild of the geeps). But they look better with the extended flares than with the shorter ones.

[B.Erdmann]

Well i have some stuff to post finnaly this was from last week friday when i went to Rapids

 

 

 

i have more pics i need to finish editing from this morning which ill post later, prolly tmmrw after work.

[WCfan]

Yea that Ethanol Extra was all luck! I also really like the class lights on 6094. Yea I looked at an Aerial View of Bryon and I saw that. Here is Lances' photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wales23/3011303443/in/pool-imrl

I've been told that there is a wooden bridge that a farmer uses that crosses the tracks just west of the 72 bridge, here are two shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wales23/2639971554/in/set-72157605992078786/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wales23/2639142291/in/set-72157605992078786/

It looks like a great spot...but what scares me the most about that shot is the fact that it is pretty deep in that farmers property.

Thanks Noah for the compliments too!

[Noah Hofrichter]

Neat pacing video Alex! I like it.

Nice stuff Joe. Like Jordan said, I like the flared radiators!

Doesn't look like a bad trip at all to me Jordan. You did have excellent luck finding that ethanol extra! I love the class lights on the 6094 always. I just wish they were lit up. I like the shot north of Bellevue a lot too.

I think the second shot of 171 was taken at Reno Bottoms if I'm seeing things right. If there was an earthen causeway that the train ran on through a swamp just to your left, then that's the place. The curve and bridge there is where the ICE had one of their big wrecks last year.

The second set of tracks you saw in Byron was the former CGW main line. It confused me the first time I was there too. It's intact from just in Byron to the Nuclear Plant south of town, and it crosses the big bridge you see in town as you leave Byron eastbound. They moved a few transformers down there back in IMRL days that Lance Wales has photos of on his Flickr site, but I don't know if the ICE has ever gone all the way to the plant or not.

The bridge at DJ is definitely a little close clearance. I've done the eastbound shot once too, but you're right the wires get in the way. I remember being down on my knees and resting the camera on the concrete barrier and I could just get the wires out of frame.

I certainly wouldn't be unhappy to have come back with those photos and video. The trio of SD40-2s rounding the curve at Leaf River is a great sound...

Noah

[WCfan]

I the flares on those GP40s!

Alright, where here is my June 20th-21st Iowa/Illinois Trip Report. (Sorry for any grammer mistakes, I haven't proof read it yet, btu I'll fix them when i seem them)

Well we left around 2, 2:30 in the morning to head south to Lacrosse/LaCresent. We stopped in Wisconsin Rapid first to see my luck with EJ&E 674. No luck, seems as they might have died on hours out in Taylor WI. We got to Lacrosse around 5:30 in the morning. The BNSF was very busy at this time and I could hear a lot of scanner action while waiting on the ICE line. Around 11 we headed over to the CP on the Wisconsin side as I had heard the 486 on the scanner. Well we missed them because of a street light that never changed. We headed out toward Tomah, but they where bookin' and it would take some time for use to catch them. So we went back to Lacresent to head south on the ICE with out tails between our legs. We where defeated in catching the 486, and the MSPKC (170).

Heading south I took note of some nice locations; that line is the most scenic line I have ever been on (Besides Moffet Tunnel). We stopped in New Albin IA (Just across the Boarder from MN) and I took some pictures of the small "Station" there. We started to head south when we heard a track detector go off on the ICE; right when it went off two CP SD40-2s came around the corner head north. Well, it was a train, so we took them north. I don't remember the locations where I got them at so I'll make my best attempt.

I think this was south of Reno and North of New Albin.

This one I think was north of Reno.

I'm almost positive this one is South of Brownsville.

That train was sort of a let down, no blue and gold power, and terribly lit.

We turned around and kept heading south. That chase north took some time and it wasn't looking good that we would hit the MSPKC at Marquette. We went through Lansing Iowa, which is a neat little town with a short section of street running. It was one o'clock by the time we got to Marquette. From my information they should have been there, but the MSPKC must have had a pretty good start. We kept heading south, passing through some beautiful scenery, with no trains. We got to Dubuque and checked out that area, but nothing was there, just some CN power. Keeping our course heading south our next stop was Bellevue Iowa. I was now starting to pick the ICE up on the scanner, and we had heard of a NB train there. When we got to Bellevue that north bound train had already gone through town and was starting to leave. We back tracked to a bridge that I could get them off of. This was a difficult shot as the line side poles where in the way.

Here is a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFAmzbl_ZHs&feature=channel_page

We took the time to head up on the bluff that over looked the town. I took some shots and then we where off again to Sabula/Savanna. Nothing was at Sabula Junction, so we headed across the River to Savanna. At the yard, a small Pac-Man CP SD40-2 was leading an ICE SD40-2. I won't post the pictures as they aren't very good.

Another train was working in the yard, and this one was a pretty nice one too! Five blue and gold ICE SD40-2s!

It was nice to actually listen to SD40-2s again. Seeing as though nothing was leaving, we headed to out hotel in Clinton. In Clinton we found two DME geeps tied down for the night.

The trailing geep is a rare one. This is a former PRSL (Pennsylvania Reading Shore Lines), note the extended cab.

In Clinton we had a hotel room that looked over the UP tracks. While checking into the hotel I caught a UP train heading out, nothing special on it, but it did have a mid train.

That night looking out the window the ICE train with 5 SD40-2s went by, must have been the MCCNA (273). I was starting to think I had bit off more than I could chew. I didn't get what I really intended this trip for. Tomorrow I wasn't expecting anything heading east, at this point I just wanted to head to Rochelle and relax! One thing of irony, I wanted the 20th to be blue skies, as I thought I would get the most shots. It was sunny on the 20th, but now I wish the good weather would have come on the 21st, as that is when I got most of my shots.

The next day I wasn’t concerned about getting out early to Savanna, as I knew there would be no train coming. At Savanna we looked around the yard, for anything. The Pac-Man SD40-2 was still there getting a fresh crew. Another train came in with a CP SD40-2 leading and an ICE SD40-2 trailing. On the scanner I heard "Your clear of East Savanna UPXXX". I had no idea what this UP train was doing on the line, but I figured since nothing was in Savanna that we would head east. West of Lanark Ill I glanced over to my left and I saw the rear of an Ethanol Extra! I knew we wouldn't beat them to Lanark, but we didn't miss them by much. As I watched them cross the grade crossing, to my surprise DME 6094 (The 20th anv. unit) was leading a trio of blue and gold SD40-2s! The chase was on now. We wheren't quite sure if we beat them to the highway 72 crossing west of Forreston, so we kept on heading east until we pulled into West Adeline. I'm still not sure if we did beat them at the highway 72 crossing, but better safe then sorry. Sure enough they headed through, going slower than what I had thought.

We chased them to Leaf River Illinois. Now the crew had put the coals to it! It was great to hear a trio of SD40-2s under load! This shot I think next time I'll try and get some elevation.

The next town I wanted to get them at was Bryon, but there was a second set of tracks that confused me, not realizing that the main was just to my left, we decided to keep heading east, and we caught them here at Stillman Valley.

The next spot I wanted was the highway 72 bridge at Davis Junction. I knew that the other side of the bridge was a popular shot, but the train was heading east, so I had to shoot from the other side of the bridge. I don't recommend this shot. This bridge doesn't have a whole lot of room; I had to lean my tri-pod legs against the bridge guardrail so it would obstruct motorists. This spot isn't even that great, power lines ruin it. This was my last spot in the chase and those SD40-2s really did sound good.

Here is my video of the chase. I love the sound of that trio of SD40-2s!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g1JZARQU1o&feature=channel_page

Next stop, Rochelle. We headed in, and it was fairly quite, but I saw some rail fans gravitating to the BNSF side of the tracks, so I figured a BNSF train was coming. The rail fans never lie, and I heard the horn outside of town. As they came around the bend I noticed that the ditch lights where alternating; somthing BNSF locomotives don't have, and as the train came into view a NS Dash 9 was leading a NS SD60, and a BNSF Dash 9.

I really wished that NS SD60 would have been leading, but oh well.

I caught a few more trains, but all of them where UP, and they didn't have anything good on them. They where also all West Bounds, so the angle of the shots wouldn't be anything different. So I won't post them.

It was starting to die down at Rochelle, but then I heard a horn blast on the BNSF. Around the corner came a very nice consists, a NS SD60 was leading a NS Dash 9 on a stack train, how ironic!

Robby gave me a tip that UP 1995 was going to leave Global 2 to head to Global 3 (Outside of Rochelle), but he figured and I figured that it wouldn't show up before 3. So around 2 we started to head out of town, I was check out some BNSF power in Rochelle, when just then we heard a horn on the UP, and blasting right by us was UP 1995! How unlucky!

We decided to head down to Global 3 and check out what was there. Off in the distance we could see the UP 2001 and 2002, but we couldn't get a picture. At the West end of the yard there was the normal GP15-1 and SD40-2 pair switching. I took some pictures, but I'll only post my SD40-2 roster shot.

Well that was it, there was many let downs, but there was also many great catches. I'm not sure how to rate this trip. I would like to return to the river again, but I don't think I make it in such a big trip. In august I'll be heading back to the ICE Chicago sub for two days to rail fan that line some more.

[ns3010]

Today I did some Railfanning by the Shore in Bay Head. After biking 6 miles to get up there, I saw three Bay Head shuttles between BH an Long Branch in about an hour and some cars stored in the yard. When I got there, I realized that I forgot the top of the tripod where the camera sits, so the pictures are a little shakey.

 

First, 4331 pulls in early with GP40PH-2B class leader 4200, a Comet III, a Comet IIM, three more CIIIs, and 5001 trailing:

 

Three strings of retired Comet Is are sitting in the yard:

 

After leaving for a while, I came back to find 4200 still idling away in the yard:

 

Soon after, 5005 pulls in on train 4335 with three more CIIIs and 4218 trailing before turning in the loop:

What is all over 5517?

 

Immediately after 4335 clears the station, 4200 pulls out of the yard with train 4352 on the way up to Long Branch:

 

There’s other pictures on my flickr too.

And there’s a slideshow with a video of train 4352 here

 

And that’s about it. All in all, it was a good day, although I didn't see 4011. And no one questioned me like last time I was in Dover, even though the engineers, conductors, and a BH police officer saw me in plain sight. Great time, and I'll definately be doing it again.

[bubbajustin]

 GUYS,

JUST GOT A CALL FROM AMTRAK. CAN'T COME HOME THE WAY WE CAME ON UP.  SO... WE ARE BEING RE ROUTED THROUGH SALT LAKE CITY AND GOING THROUGH WYOMING! I CAN'T WAIT!

[Railfan Alex]

Thanks guys!

It all happened by accident, we were just leaving St. Luc Yard when the train pulled out of the Via Rail station. So I pulled the camera out, and started filming. He picks up speed pretty quick, at the beginning, he's only doing about 35 MPH and by the end of the clip, he was doing 90 MPH, and so were we!

Next time, tripod and chase a slower freight instead. The only thing I am worried about is that the camera might absorb all the bumps in the road and be really shaky if I use a tripod. I also have to see if I can do this in the summer. I think there might be too many leaves and bushes in the way by now.

[Anonymous]

As usual, excellent photography, Noah! I especially like that one of the long hood-first SD40-2 on the bridge - the sun reflecting off the sides of the loco and boxcars really make the shot!

Alex: That pacing shot is pretty awesome! The scream of the F40PH units in full throttle (with no wind like many other pacing shots) is awe-inspiring combined with the scenery flashing past.

[ns3010]

Alex, nice job! I really like the pace.

Well, the weather today is crappy, so it looks like I'll be going up to BH and PPB later... No beach today!

[Railfan Alex]

Nice photos guys.

Well should I share a few videos? Some you might have already seen, but here we go:

First attempt at a pace shot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a51fMyUC55Q

Couple of 40-2's on the Expressway at Mud Lake, Ontario:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9YJx8vzGF8&feature=channel_page

And finally a mixed freight outside of Perth, Ontario:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWJApURQtYo&feature=channel

Shot back in April of this year. Enjoy!

[ns3010]

Great shots guys!

Probably heading up to Bay Head and/or Point Pleasant tomorrow.

[WCfan]

Great pictures Noah!

Neat shots Tyler!

I should probably post my Iowa/Illinois trip soon. I didn't get the MSPKC, but as we where heading south we ran into a NB train. We chased that for a little bit, but the darn thing was going north, so it was terriably lit. I caught one more train on the way, and some stuff in Savanna. We stayed in a hotel in Clinton instead of Savanna, and I caught some stuff there. The next day I caught a train I didn't expect to get, and an awesome leader too. At Rochelle there was some nice stuff too on the BNSF, and that was about it. In August I'm going to take a northern Illinois trip.  

[Noah Hofrichter]

Neat photos Tyler. I always like lift bridges, though I don't get to see too many around here.

Good to hear you had a good trip Robby! The CP is feast or famine lately, but I'm glad to see you got at least some of the "feast."

I've got a few more "new" photos to share myself. I'm finally starting to get through the backlog of photos I have from the last few months. Included in that are some photos from back in April of a short lived operating scheme on the Wisconsin and Southern Reedsburg sub that actually allowed one to see two trains in daylight. Unfortunately they quit the practice pretty quickly and went back to nocturnal operations...

Photos:

L486 headed through North Freedom, WI, 182 miles from Chicago:

WSOR 4050 arrives Rock Springs and passes the power for it's counterpart train, L863. L463 (today led by the 4050) would bring cars up from Madison to Rock Springs in the early afternoon, just in time for L863 to go on duty using the WSOR 3801 at Rock Springs. The L863 would then switch the industries between Reedsburg and Baraboo.

After dropping off the grain empties in the background, the 4050 heads to make a pick up and depart for Madison:

The L863 crew is starting their days work with the 3801 as the crew of the 4050 prepares to depart in the background:

And finally I chased the L486 back to the Wisconsin River bridge at Merrimac in the late evening sun. I'm glad I did, because I wouldn't have the chance to do so again before the job was abolished.

Enjoy!

Noah

[bubbajustin]

Evening,

Well, we went to Lafayette today to see where the parking spots were to park the car while we are on vacation. well, come to find out, the construction to the station parking lot is still bumbling on amlessly. The "new" parking lot is a quarter mile away! WoW! Outrageous! Well, needless to say we won't be getting on at Lafayette IN. Mom says she will cancel the tickets to Chicago from Lafayette and will order more from A town called Crofordsville IN. A few miles south.

Well, at the station we saw a CSX work train tieng up things on the main line. 4 really beat up MOW gons., and 2 tall yellow gons. with new ties in them. One of these yellow cars had a big John Deere "pncher" up on top unloading fresh ties along the tracks. Pretty cool operation! What got me is that the train was being pulled by a big hi-rail truck. Lot's uh' weight there.

BTW, Great shots everyone!

Justin